The Global Burden of Pleural Diseases

Pleural diseases include a spectrum of disorders broadly categorized into pneumothorax and pleural effusion. They often cause pain, breathlessness, cough, and reduced quality of life. The global burden of diseases reflects regional differences in conditions and exposures associated with pleural disease, such as smoking, pneumonia, tuberculosis, asbestos, cancer, and organ failure. Disease burden in high-income countries is overrepresented given the availability of data and disease burden in lower-income countries is likely underestimated. In the United States, in 2016, there were 42,215 treat-and-discharge visits to the emergency room for pleural diseases and an additional 361,270 hospitalizations, resulting in a national cost of $10.1 billion.